There's Always Hope
by All-Aboard-the-Nathan-James
Summary: After her shooting, Rachel is in hiding in a cabin with Tex guarding her. One day, Kara comes to the cabin bearing bad news, and the two have to remind each other to never give up hope for the people they care about. Hints of Tomchel and Kara x Danny. A friendly reminder for all of us to never lose hope.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: After watching the premiere the other night, I'm still not convinced Rachel is dead, so I guess this fic came out of the hopes that she's still hiding out there somewhere. Everyone needs a little hope and a reminder not to give up after that, so here's this. Hope you guys like it!**

After having given the crew of the Nathan James their orders, President Michener had ordered Kara to go home and get some rest. She had left the President's office unsure of what to do, and before she knew it she found herself driving out to the cabin where Rachel was spending what she called her "exile".

Before little Frankie had been born, Kara had come out to the cabin once a week so Rachel could check on the baby's progress. The only time Rachel had left the cabin since the night of her shooting was to help deliver Kara's baby, and the two had become close friends since. Kara needed someone to talk to, someone who wasn't Navy, so she wasn't surprised when she realized she had subconsciously driven to Rachel's cabin.

When she arrived, she got out and knocked on the door. There was a delay of a few seconds, presumably while Tex checked to make sure it was her and the coast was clear, and then the door opened.

"Good to see ya again, Mrs. Green," Tex said with a grin. Although Danny and Kara had been married for a few months now, hearing her married name never ceased to make Kara smile.

This time, though, Tex's usual greeting brought tears to her eyes, and Tex immediately knew something was wrong. Without another word, he ushered her in and delivered her to the kitchen, where they found Rachel stirring a pot.

Rachel had heard Tex's greeting and knew it was Kara who was visiting, so when she heard footsteps coming down the hall she said without looking up, "Before you say anything, I'm only cooking because all we had was chili and Tex's chili is awful," she laughed.

"Hey now," Text protested, but didn't contradict her.

Despite herself, Kara found herself smiling a bit, and wiped her eyes. But when Rachel finally looked up from her chili and saw the look of barely concealed sadness in her friend's eyes, she said, "Tex, I think you can manage stirring for a while," and motioned for him to take over. Tex took the spoon from her, and Rachel took Kara's arm and lead her into her bedroom.

Rachel sat Kara down on her bed, grabbed a box of tissues, and sat next to her. "Now," she said. "What's wrong?"

"It's Danny," Kara said, tears in her eyes and a sob clawing at her throat. "Apparently there was a raid on the crew while they were on land. He was taken hostage, along with the CO, XO, and quite a few others," Kara tried to say more, but she couldn't, so she just buried her head in her hands.

"Oh, Kara," Rachel said, "I'm so sorry." Rachel hugged her, and Kara was glad she had come here instead of going home by herself.

After a few minutes, Rachel asked, "Do you know what happened to them?" Kara just shook her head, unable to say anything else. "So, they could still be alive?" Rachel asked.

"I… I don't know," Kara said. "We… we had to tell the James to sortie to open waters, to prevent it from being the next target." She paused for a moment before whispering, "they had to leave them behind."

There was a pause as Rachel considered what to say next. She thought about everything the crew had been through over the course of their mission, and all of the seemingly impossible things she had seen them do. It seemed to her it was too early to give up hope for Danny and the rest of the crew, but she knew it would be hard to convince Kara of that right now.

"Well," Rachel began, hoping she wasn't about to give her friend false hope. "If there is one thing the crew of the Nathan James is good at, it's doing the impossible. If Danny, Slattery, and the rest of the crew are out there, they'll find a way to get out. And you can be sure President Michener and Captain Chandler won't rest until their people are safe. They'll find them, Kara." Rachel believed what she was saying, but she could tell by the look on Kara's face that she wasn't convinced. Rachel needed to approach this a different way.

Rachel considered a different way to approach this, and thought back to her time in the hospital right after her shooting. "There was something Tom told me, while I was in the hospital," she began. "While I was still asleep. He thought I couldn't hear him, but I could," she said with a smile, and was glad when Kara gave her a weak smile back. "He said the doctors had told him I'd be lucky to survive, but he told me, 'until I see that heart monitor flatline, I'm not giving up hope, and I'm not leaving you.'" She paused, and Kara looked at her in confusion. "It's the same for you," Rachel said. "Until you know for sure they're gone, don't give up hope. Keep fighting for them, and don't leave them. You never know what the next miracle will be with this crew."

Kara thought about this for a moment, letting Rachel's words sink in. It was true that this crew always seemed to pull off the impossible, so maybe it was too early to give up. After a moment, she smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Rachel," she said. "I think I know what I have to do." Rachel smiled at the new hope in Kara's eyes, glad she could make a difference.

"You'd better get back out there," Kara said, "before Tex ruins your chili." Rachel laughed, gave Kara a quick hug, and the two headed back out into the kitchen, both feeling a little better.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Rachel was laying on the couch in her cabin reading a book when there was another knock on the door. Tex, who had been watching TV, switched it off and pulled himself up off the couch with a moan, saying, "I'll get it." Rachel gave him a smile; they both knew she wasn't allowed to answer the door.

After Tex had been gone for a few minutes, Rachel got curious, and crept closer to the front hallway to see if she could hear who it was. Unfortunately, Tex had stepped out onto the front porch and closed the door behind him. Rachel sighed in frustration. She peeked around the corner, praying that Tex didn't look back and catch her. She'd never hear the end of it if she was seen by the wrong person, but she was far too curious. Exile was boring, and boring didn't suit her well at all.

A second later, Rachel heard the door begin to open, so she scurried back to the living room and picked up her book again, hoping she hadn't been caught snooping.

When she looked up, she saw Tex returning to the living room with Kara. She looked at Tex questioningly, but he avoided her eyes, a frown on his face. Kara looked shocked and sad. Rachel's heart sank. Something must have happened. She sat the book down on the couch and stood up, meeting Kara half way through the living room. "Is it Danny?" she asked.

Kara shook her head, looking down. "No, you'd better sit back down," she said.

Rachel shook her head and crossed her arms across her chest warily. "Kara, what's going on?"

"It's Captain Chandler," Kara whispered, and Rachel felt a stab of panic grip her chest. She stared at Kara, waiting for her to say more. After an awkward second, Kara said, "his plane in China exploded shortly after it took off."

Rachel gaped at her, unable to comprehend what she was saying. She glanced from Kara to Tex, who finally met her eyes and whispered sadly, "he's dead, Doc."

Rachel sat back down on the couch, staring blankly at the wall in front of her, not looking at either Tex or Kara. She couldn't believe it. She had seen him just a few days ago, when he had told her the President was sending him to Asia. He had told her about the mutating virus, and she had insisted it wasn't possible. He had listened to her explain why, and pretended to understand all the science terms she was using. He had told her he wouldn't be gone long, and he'd be back before she knew it. She'd told him it was too dangerous to go anywhere right now, and he had joked that it was his job to keep her safe, and he could take care of himself.

Tom had been the first person she saw when she woke up in the hospital. He had been the one by her side as she fought for her life. He had been there for her every step of the way, until he was convinced she was okay. He had found this little cabin for her, and despite her protests insisted on keeping her life a secret, promising it would keep her safer.

He couldn't be gone.

Rachel's thoughts ran the full gamut of emotions, from guilt that she hadn't argued enough to keep him here, to anger that Michener had sent him in the first place, to sadness when she realized that last conversation before he left was the last time she would see him. She felt Kara sit down next to her on the couch, but she didn't meet her friend's eyes.

Tex watched as emotions ran across Rachel's face, wishing he knew how to help her but knowing he'd probably just make things worse. He hadn't been blind to what was building between Rachel and the Captain, and even though he still had feelings for Rachel, he had backed off after the Captain had spent three entire days at Rachel's bedside while she was in the hospital, refusing to leave until she woke up. And now he was dead. Tex was pretty sure he was the last person Rachel would want to talk to right now. He glanced helplessly at Kara, who gave him a nod that said she could handle this, so he retreated to his room and left the living room to the girls.

Kara gave Rachel a moment, sitting there while Rachel processed everything she had just told her. After a few minutes, Rachel finally whispered, "He can't be gone." Kara gave her a sympathetic look, but Rachel didn't see it. She was still staring blankly at the wall. Kara waited for her to continue, knowing she was probably in shock. "I just saw him the other day," Rachel said, even though she knew that didn't make his death any less real.

Sitting there on the couch, Rachel thought about that last conversation, how she had tried to tell him not to go. How Tex had left the two of them in their cabin's little library and retreated to the living room to give them space. She thought about how Tom had promised he'd be safe, promised he'd come back. How, when she looked worried and unconvinced, he had hugged her and promised her everything would be fine. She thought about how, as he was heading out that evening, Tom had told Tex, "I'm leaving you in charge. Take care of my girl while I'm gone." She thought about how much she had loved hearing him say that, calling her "my girl". She wasn't sure if she had ever really been "his girl", but she knew she wanted to be. More than she had ever admitted to him. When he had hugged her, and said that, she had thought they were finally getting somewhere.

And now he was gone.

Finally, the shock and confusion wore off, and Kara could see tears start to brim Rachel's eyes. She took Rachel's hand and said, "Hey," bringing Rachel out of her reverie. When Rachel glanced up at her hopelessly, Kara knew what she had to say. "Remember what we talked about yesterday?" she asked, and Rachel nodded, wiping absently at her eyes. "You told me to never give up. You told me that there's always hope, always another miracle."

Rachel shook her head angrily. "His plane blew up, Kara," she said hopelessly. "There's not much hope to be had there."

Kara squeezed Rachel's hand. "We don't know for sure what happened. He might not have even been on the plane. We're having trouble getting information from our assets on the ground in China. The preliminary reports only show two bodies in the crash, both the pilots. We don't know for sure what happened to Captain Chandler, or Valerie."

Rachel sat in silence for a moment, feeling hope starting to take root inside her. She was afraid to hope, but she supposed the only other option was despair, and she refused to give in to that. At least not yet.

Rachel took a deep breath, and looked back to Kara. "You're right," she said. "Tom never gave up on me, and I can't just give up on him." She gave Kara a quick smile. "There's always hope. Always a chance for another miracle."


End file.
